Saw-guard



H'. A. COOPER. SAW GUARD.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. I. i917.v

SHEETS-'SHEET l.

H. A. COOPER.

SAW GUARD. APPLICATION FILED o T. 1. 1911.

Patented May 3 1, 1921.

Z'SHEET/S-SHEET 2.

Gte/mung STATES PATENT HAMILTON A. COOPER, or TOLEDO, OHIO, AssIeNOE 0EONE-HALE BRIGGS, OE TOLEDO, OHIO.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, HAMILTON A. COOPER, a citizen of the UnitedStates,residing at f Toledo, in the county of Lucas and State of Ohio, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Saw-Guards, of which Ideclare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to improvements in saw guards and particularly toimprovements in safety devices or guards for use in connection withcircular, rip or cross-cut saws.

The principal object of this invention is to provide an improved sawguard which is entirely automatic in its action and renders itpractically impossible for an operator tov accidentally cut his fingerson the saw. l

A further object of this invention is the provision of a saw guardhaving a hood and a guard member pivotally mounted on the hood on eitherside thereof, the hood and guard members4 being so connected that whenone of the guard members is lifted to elevated position, kthe hood willbe lifted with it, while the other guard member may remain in itslowermost position. The purpose of this arrangement is to properlyprotect the, operator when the saW table is swungto an angle with thehorizontal about an axis parallel with the plane of the saw. In theordinary construction, there is but one guard, or else a vpair of guardsrigidly connected, and hence when the table' is tilted as above stated,the guard on the side of the saw toward the upwardly extending portionof the table is raised, carrying with it the hood and leaving a portionof the saw exposed so that the fingers ofthe operator may come incontact with it when they approach from the frontor the lower side ofthe table. It is an object of my invention to provide a structure whichwill overcome this danger.

' A further object of my invention is to provide a saw guard soconstructed and so operating as to prevent the operator bringing hisfingers incontact with the cutting edge of 'the saw while feeding lumberthereto. Y

Further objects, and objects relating to 'economies' of manufacture anddetails of construction, will definitely appear from the detaileddescription to follow I accomplish the objects of my invention pendedclaims.

Yoperation of the saw at all times.

T0 CHARLES A.

' ...L SAW-GUARD.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented May 31, 1921' Applicationfiled October 1,: 1917. Serial No.y 194,179.

by the devices and means described in the following specification. Myinvention is clearly defined and pointed out in the ap- A structureconstituting a preferred embodiment of my invention is illustrated in,the accompanying drawings, forming a part vof this specliication, inwhich:

Figure I is a view in side elevation of `a v guard constructed inaccordance with my invention.

Fig. II isa top plan viewof the guard wlth .the spreader plate shown insection on the line II-II of Fig. I.

Fig. III is a detail, sectional view, taken on the line III-III of Fig.I.

Fig.. IV is a detail, sectional view, taken on the line IV-IV of Fig.II.

Fig. Vis a detail, sectional view, taken on the line V-1-V of Fig. I.

Fig. VI is a detail, sectional view, taken v i on the line VI--VI ofFig. II.

Fig. VII isa view in side elevation of a modified form of my invention.

Fig. VIII is a top plan view of the forward -portion of the guardillustrated in Fig. VII.

Fig. IX is a detail, sectional view, taken on the line IX--IX of Fig.VIII.

In, the drawings, Ysimilar reference numerals refer to similar partsthroughout the several views and the sectional views are taken lookinginthe direction of the little arrows atthe ends of the section lines.

Considering the` numbered parts of the drawing, I have shown a saw table10 provided-with a ,spreader plate 11, having a vertically lextending,slot 12 therein. IWy guard includes a hoodwhich covers the sides and topof the saw at all, times and comprises the parallel sidewalls 13,provided with a plurality of openings 14 therein so that the side wallsof the hood are of` skeleton construction .and afford a view of the Theupper edges of said side walls 13 are connected by the semicircular topwall 15 which forms the top ofthe hood. A pair of parallel tail members16 extend rearwardly from the hood, as shown in F igs'. lI and II, andcarry a bolt 17 extendingthrough the slot 12, a roller 18 beingjournaled on the bolt 17 and engaging the sides of the slot 12, asclearly appears from Figs. IV and V. A

bolt .19 :is carried by the extreme rear ends of the tail members 16 andcarries a roller 20, which is adapted to engage the rear edge of thespreader plate 11 to limit the pivotal movement of the hood in onedirection. rlhe tail members 1G are provided with upwardly extendingshoulders 21, which carry ,a pin 22 having a roller 23 journaled thereonand adapted to engage the forward edge of the spreader plate 11 to limitthe pivotal movement of the hood in the other direction. A dog` 2/1 isVpivoted at 25 to the tail members 16 and provided with a serrated end 26which is adapted to engage the lumber passing to the saw so as tovprevent any back-kick thereof.

A pair of parallel guard members 27 are provided, each having aforwardly and up wardly extending arm 23, which extends at substantially4:50 t0 the plane of the saw table, and a vertically extending arm 29having a slot 30 therein, said arm 28 and arm 29 being interconnected bybracing members so as to make one integral member which is connected tothe forward end of the link 31 extending rearwardly and downwardly andpivotally connected at 32 to the hood at a point near the bolt 17.Shoulders 33 extend forwardly from the forward edge of the side walls 13of the hood and bolts 34: pass through each of these shoulders 33 andthrough the slot 30 of the arm 29 of the adjacent guard member, s0 thateach guard member is independently pivotally mount- Yed on the hood withthe result that, if said guard member is lifted, the hood will be liftedwith it, but, if the hood is lifted, it can be moved upwardlyindependently of the guard members.

The embodiment of my invention, shown in Figs. VH tOIX, is quite similarto that shown in the preceding views with the exception that theparallel guard members are connected together by the cross bars 35, 36and 37, so that said parallel guard members move together instead ofindependently. as in the preferred form of my invention. rEhe guard.instead of being connected to the hood by bolts passing through theslots 30, is so disposed that the forwardly projecting lugs 39 extendingfrom the forward edges 38 of the walls 13 of the hood engage thecrossbars 36 and 37 connecting the parallel side members of the guard,soas t0 limit the movement of the guard and hood relative to each other.

From the description of the parts given above, the operation of thisdevice should be very readily understood. The operator, in feeding apiece of wood to the saw, moves it under the inclined arms 28 of theguard. and the forward movement of the piece of wood lifts the guardmembers 27. as well as the hood proper, since the bolts 34, carried bythe lugs 33 extending from the forward edges of the side walls 1,3 Ofthe llOQd? normally engage the bottoms of the slots 30 in the verticalarms 29 of the guard. It will therefore be seen that the forwardmovement of the piece of wood, which is being fed to the saw, will liftthe guard and the hood so as to expose the cutting edge of the saw sothat the wood may be fed to it. As soon as the piece of wood has movedforward suf- AF.ciently s@ that it'does not engage the bottom of theguard, the guard will drop to its normal position, while the hood willbe held in an elevated position by the work going through the saw due tothe engagement of the piece of wood with the lower edge of the hood.rlfhis position is illustrated in dotted lines in Fig. l. After the cuthas been completed, the pieces passing from the saw pass on each side ofthe spreader plate 11 and the manner in which the tail members 16 of thehood are mounted by the bolt 17 passing through the slot 12, permits thotail of the hood to lift so as to allow the pieces of wood to pass outthereunder. rllhis elevated position of the hood is shown in dottedlines in Fig. VH. The tilting of the hood in one direction is limited bythe bolt 19, having a roller or washer 20 thereon, which engages therear edge of the spreader plate 11, while the rocking movement in theopposite direction is limited by the bolt 22 having the washer or roller23 thereon, which engages the forward edge of the spreader plate 11.

ln the form of my invention shown in Figs. l and H, the guard members 27are independently mounted on opposite sides of the hood, being'pivotally supported by the links 31 which are pivotally connected withthe hood by means of theA bolts 32.

Fach of these guard members can move indepcndently of thc other so that,if the piece of'wood engages but one of these guard members, it will belifted andv at thc same' time will lift the hood. while the other guardmember will remain in its normal position,

preventing the fingers of the operator passing into contact with the sawalong the end of the piece of wood being fed into the machine.

ln the form of my invention., shown in Figs, Vll. VH1 and 1X, the guardis of one piece, the members 27. which are pivotally connected by thelinks 31 with the hood. being interconnected by the cross-bars 36 and 37g so that they move as one piece. lnstead of the pin and slotconnections between the hood and guard. lugs 39 are provided extendingforwardly from the front edges 33 of the side walls 13 of the hood, saidlugs being disposed and positioned to abut the cross-bars 36 and 37 soas to limit the movement of the hood and guard relative to each other.`When the guard is lifted by the feeding of a piece of wood to the saw,the engagement Ot the bar 36 with. the lugs 39 0a the hood causes thehood to be lifted too, while the upward movement of the hood relative tothe guard is limited by the engagement of these lugs 39 with thecrossbar 37.

It will be observed that I have provided a guard which not only protectsthesides and top of the saw so that the operator cannot accidentallycome in contact with it, but, at the same time, prevents his feeding hislingers to the saw along with the wood, inasmuch as when the wood hasbeen fed so far toward the saw that it no longer engages the bottom ofthe guard 27, said guard will drop on the lingers of the operator andwarn him that it is time to get his fingers out of the way. The droppingof this guard does not, in any way, interfere with the operation of thesaw, or the feeding of work thereto and it automatically warns theoperator when his lingers have gone too far and serves to prevent hisgetting his fingers in a position where they would be injured by thesaw.

I am aware that the particular embodiment of my invention, which I havehere shown and described, is susceptible of considerable variationwithout departing from the spirit thereof and therefore, I desire toclaim my invention broadly, as well as specifically, as indicated by theappended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is:

l. A device of the class described, comprising the combination of a sawtable; a saw; a hood adapted to partially embrace said saw; a pair ofindependent guardmembers adjacent the forward end of said hood one oneach side thereof; links connected to said guard members and pivotallyconnected to said hood near the rear end thereof; and means for limitingthe movement of said guard members relative to said hood.

2. A device of the class described, comprising the combination of a sawtable; a saw; a hood adapted to partially embrace said saw and bodilymovable relative thereto; links independently pivoted to said hoodadjacent the rear end thereof and extending upwardly and forwardly;guard members one on eachL side of said hood secured to the forward endsof said links; and stops carried by said hood and coperating with saidguard members to limit their movement relative to said hood.

3. A device of the class described, comprising the combination of a sawtable; a saw; a hood adapted to partially embrace said saw and bodilymovable relative thereto ;y links pivotally connected to said hood,adjacent the rear end thereof; a guard member secured t9 the forward andof each of said links, said guard members being arranged on oppositesides of said hood; and means for limiting the movement of said guardmembers relative to said hood, each of said guard members being mountedand movable independently of the other.

4. A device of the class described, comprising the combination of a sawtable; a

slot, said vertically extending arms being arranged on opposite sides ofsaid hood; and a stop carried by said hood and disposed in each of saidslots.

5. In a device of the class described, the combination of a saw table, asaw, a hood arranged to partially embrace said saw and movable bodilyrelative thereto, and guide members on either side of the hood pivotallyconnected thereto near the rear end thereof and independently movablerelative thereto in one direction.

6. In a device of the class described,the combination of a saw table, asaw, a hood adapted to partially embrace said saw and movable relativethereto, independent guard members on either side of the hood pivotallyconnected thereto near the rear end thereof, and stops carried by saidhood and engageable lby said guards to effect movement of the hood upon`movement of eitherV of the guards in one direction. y

In a device of the class described', the combination of a saw table, asaw, a bodily movable hood having its front and rear end portionsnormally partially embracing said saw, a pair of guard membersprojecting forwardly on either side of said hood and pivotally attachedindependently to the hood near the rear end thereof, and stops carriedby the hood and adapted to engage the guards to insure a correspondingmovement of the hood upon movement of one ofthe gua-rds in onedirection.

8. In a device of the class described, the combination of a saw table, asaw a hood adapted to partially embrace said saw, an independentlymovable guard member pivoted to the rear end of the hood on each sidethereof and having portions projecting forwardly thereof, and stopscarried by the hood and engageable with portions ofthe guard members toinsure movement of the hood upon movement of either guard member in onedirection.

In, testimony whereof I aliiX my signature.

' HAMILTON A, COOPER,

